Puzzles

Earlier today, I asked my 3 and a half year old if she wanted to watch a show since I would be in an online meeting for an hour. She said, "I want to do puzzles". I was a little worried her puzzle motivation would wear off prematurely but decided I couldn't say no to her choosing a good brain building activity.

My meeting ended and I started to search for her to see how she had kept herself occupied for so long. Surely she had moved on from her former activity. But she wasn't playing dolls in her room. She wasn't building blocks or coloring. I peeked around the corner of our music room and there she was, putting the last pieces of a giant floor puzzle in place. She had never done that puzzle before. It was meant for kids much older than her. And it wasn't the only puzzle she had put together in that time. 

She snapped the last piece in and resolutely exclaimed, "Done" with her arms stretched out in front of her.  I asked her how she felt. She replied, "Good. I'm gonna do another one."

There was no drama about how complicated the puzzle was, no complaining about how long it took. She simply took one piece at a time, diligently found its place, and continued the process. 

I began to reflect on the puzzles in my life. What should I wear today? What should I eat for lunch? What do I do about my child who sometimes gets called down to the principal's office for getting into other people's space?  How do I prioritize my life in such a way that I have time to spend with my family and also start a business? How do I help all of my friends and family who are working on their own gigantic puzzles? 

Often times I choose thoughts about my puzzles that bring on an intense feeling of overwhelm or worry. "Why haven't I figured this out yet!" "I have been working on this puzzle much longer than ones I've worked on in the past."  "I just want to be done!" 

What if we just decided to sit down and work on our puzzles. We know they'll be times when we get to work on the edges without having to put much thought into it and they'll be other times when we are piecing together a cloudless sky. 

It's all going to come together in the end, right? We know that from past puzzles. It's all going to come together if we don't give up on it. 

We can choose to remember we aren't just building a puzzle, we are building persistence, resilience, and character? These traits will allow us to build future puzzles with greater efficacy, filling our lives with meaningful pictures that we get to keep forever.

So, if you are losing motivation on one of your puzzles, take a step back. Take a deep breath. Remember all the reasons why you "want to do puzzles". Deliberately choose this brain building activity. Simply take one piece at a time, diligently find its place, and continue the process. When you snap that last piece in, you'll want to do another one.